Friend Friday: Holidays

Dress: Kohl's
Tights: Simply Vera
Socks: Target
Belt: Thrifted
Boots: Nine West
Scarf: Target
Earrings Turkey

Friend Friday! I feel like I haven't participated in one of these in a looong time! But, as long as I'm taking advantage of the library's free wi-fi, I figure I can squeeze this into my schedule. So, this time around, we're doing one of those old school questionnaires that I never could resist.



No holiday party is complete without: a little bling.
My favorite Christmas song/album: Bomba en Navidad by Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz. Clearly, I come from a different Christmas tradition. As far as songs that are more recognizable in the US, I like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings" by The Barenaked Ladies
My favorite seasonal recipe: Pernil. It's the best thing that can happen to a pig.
The perfect New Year's Eve outfit includes: some hot shoes.
At the parties, I'll be drinking: water, as usual.
Eggnog, good or bad? I've never had it. I do love coquito, though.
Did you ever take pictures on Santa's lap at the mall? Yep.
Gingerbread Latte or Peppermint Mocha: Neither.


Worst gift I ever got: has never arrived.
Best gift I ever received: a wedding. (B & I got married in Puerto Rico on 27 December 2009)
My family has this weird tradition: We love watching Banco Popular videos at this time of year and remembering Puerto Rico.
My best bargain find for a gift this year: I'm making all my gifts this year, so probably the 69 cent beeswax at the natural grocer.
If I could only buy all my gifts from one place, I'd shop at: Potomac Mills.
Rudolph the Red-nose Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman: Rudolph. I hate snow.
My favorite holiday memory: going back to PR for Christmas and seeing all the decorations. That or waking up on January 6th to see that the Three Kings had been by leaving gifts.
My favorite Christmas movie: A Christmas Story.


The best part about holiday decorations is: the fun lights.
Rip off the wrapping paper or neatly pull off the tape: I neatly pull off the tape and refold the paper.
Miracle on 34th Street or It's a Wonderful Life: I've never watched "It's a Wonderful Life"....
It doesn't feel like the holiday season until: I'm with my family.
All I want for Christmas is: lots of good family time.

BBCA 4 - Belting

Shirt: Ralph Lauren, thrifted
Dress, worn as skirt: Target
Pumps: Zara
Belt worn as belt: Target
Belt worn as headband: Etsy (although the vendor is no longer around)
Earrings: Turkey

Apparently the way for me to get BBCA done is by tying stuff around my head, and I'm cool with that as long as you're cool with that. Actually, even if you're not, most of my pink is in accessory form, so this is how it's going to be.


Anyway, this outfit. I've seen a lot of midi skirts on the Internet - apparently it's the new thing this fall. I've had this dress for something like six years and it's terribly stretched out (and faded, though you can't tell in these pictures) to the point that it's a bit midi in length. I've been playing with the idea of wearing it as a skirt for a while, but I hadn't quite worked out all the kinks yet.


Anyway, it just happened to be hanging next to this top which I thrifted (for $1!) while we were back in the States in September. I keep meaning to ask my sewing teacher to help me take it in, but I'm way more interested in learning to draft patterns and make new stuff, so I haven't yet. I figure I can figure this out on my own when I'm reunited with sewing machine in December. I guess pairing two ill-fitting, loose pieces shouldn't be natural, but the color combo was hard for me to resist.


It took a bit of creative tucking, folding and belting, but I think I made it work. It's the silhouette I was hoping to recreate, and the crazy high green pumps keep me from being overwhelmed by the length of the skirt. That said, one of my students asked me why I was dressed like a pilgrim, so maybe the heels didn't mitigate the frump factor. Or the pilgrims had some hot fashion sense.


Oh, and just as long as we're on the topic of pilgrims, I think it's time for confessions of a closet nerd. When I was in second grade, I was a pilgrim for Halloween. I had a long, grey dress, an apron, and a bonnet. I thought it was the most amazing costume EVER and I may have worn it in third grade, too. I guess I've always been a fan of Puritanical dressing....


Less Puritanical, however, is the belt around my head.

Green

Sweater: Target
Dress: Target (gift from my mom)
Belt: Target
Shoes: Steve Madden (gift from my mom)
Earrings: Turkey

Seriously? How did I end up wearing so much Target? I don't even know. But I guess that's okay because B picked this outfit out and if he'd wanted more variety in clothing sources, he'd have made it happen, right?


He loves this sweater, and I love it in theory. What I mean is that I love it when it's on, but it's not the thing that I reach for when I'm getting dressed. I don't know why because the silhouette is perfect and the color is so much fun. I should be reaching for it more often, am I right?


I'm glad B helps me to get some use out of this particular item, though. Any outfit suggestions for this sweater?


Also, I asked my mom for some flat shoes so I can keep walking to school when our car breaks down (it's at least once a month, y'all) and she sent me these and the oxfords I've already shown off. Cute, right? I'm pretty smitten.

The case of the mysterious sliding belt

Dress: Kohl's
Belt: Target
Booties: Aldo
Cami: Petite Sophisticate
Earrings: Sarchí, Costa Rica

So, I've had this dress for a long time. Like, six or seven years kind of long time. I like to call it my travel dress because it dresses up and down easily and it's jersey. Jersey! That's a "roll it up and throw it in your backpack" kind of fabric if ever there was one.


It's been with me to Vietnam, to Turkey, to Guatemala. It's also what I wore when we flew down here to Costa Rica. It was appropriate for the early January cold of DC and the warmth of Costa Rica. All I did was swap a pair of boots for a pair of flip flops when we landed. Easy peasy.


But I haven't worn it again since we've been here until this past Sunday when I pulled it out and put it on. The nice thing about a wrap dress is that it fits through 10-15 pound weight fluctuations, and I'd say I'm at the lower end of my normal fluctuations at this point. The bad thing about being at this point is that I need a little more definition in my outfits because I'm losing my curves.


Well, I know how to add definition! Just belt it! So I add this very adjustable belt at the waist. The problem? Between the slippery fabric, the bunching of the self-belt, and the slipperiness of the belt itself, it was sliding down as the day went on and that is just annoying.

White shirt week day 3

Tee: Target (gift from A)
Dress (worn as a skirt): Victoria's Secret (gift from my mom)
Sandals: Simply Vera via Kohl's
Belt: Target
Earrings: Kohl's
Ring: swapped
Bracelets: gifts
Drama face: ?

Truth: I spent most of the day wondering about this outfit. I kept switching from "Hate it" to "Love it" like a crazy person. In the end, I think I kinda like it. It definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone in terms of silhouette and jewelry, and it made me get a little creative with stuff.


I mean, the bodice of this dress has a huge flounce on it which I had to tuck under so that I could layer appropriately. Also, I spent most of the day holding the skirt up like that so I could, you know, walk. Because that's kind of important sometimes.


B really liked this, though, and my students told me that they loved the skirt and that I looked like an angel. Win, win, win.


Also winning? My hippie hair. I've got two baby French braids along the crown and five baby buns in the back.


That and a couple fistfuls of bobby pins. I have to say, this might be the easiest thing to do with freshly washed hair early in the morning. It totally dries the way I want it to and it stays out of the way. That and it takes me all of seven minutes; I didn't time it, I just like the number seven.

FFB: Class and all that's thrifty

Sweater: H&M
Dress: thrifted
Shoes: Crocs
Earrings: came with a pair of boots
Scarf: J Crew
Kitten: Pirata

Remember when this kitteh disappeared and I thought she was dead? That was sad. But she's back! I thought that warranted a photo op.
Anyway, it's time for another FFB post, this time about social class.


I'm not totally sure if my topic fits under that category, but it's one that's been on my mind since I first stumbled into a Tienda Americana here in Costa Rica. This little dress (which is probably actually a nightshirt, but let's keep that between us, shall we?) came from a tienda americana, which is the equivalent of a thrift store, except different.


See, the americanas here are THE place to get clothes. In my deep and thorough research of Costa Rican malls - and by that I mean the anecdotal evidence I've collected by visiting four malls in different cities at different times - they might as well call them "Centers where you can get stuff for $60 US or more". New clothes are prohibitively expensive here, and this is where the americana comes in.


They sell Goodwill and Salvation Army cast offs at reasonable prices. Sometimes, they're even downright cheap - I managed to snag a neon skirt for about 90 cents. The thing is that this is pretty much THE ONLY place where the average Costa Rican can afford to buy clothes. And there's nothing wrong with that, I mean, I like thrifting. A lot. Probably because I wasn't allowed to as a kid (class issues abound in that statement...). Also, I think thrift stores provide a necessary service.


That said, the fact that a single country can supply another country with clothes from its cast offs raises questions for me. I mean, seriously, the stuff that gets here has already trickled through the system: from the store (new), to the closet (worn), donated to a thrift store in the States, and then donated AGAIN to these stores in Costa Rica. Doesn't that say something about social and economic class at a global level? And in some ways, isn't that just perpetuating some neocolonialist attitudes? (Hi, my name is Frances, I majored in Latin American Studies and then went on to study International Development and I blog about what I wear....)


So here I am, in my tienda americana dress and my fast fashion sweater and my over-priced scarf and rubber shoes (I love you J Crew, but let's be real: your accessories are way over-priced). I'm part of the system, part of the consumption - on both ends, no less - and I don't quite know what to do about that. And I haven't even begun to deal with the can of worms that is the origin of most of these items - in many cases, other Central American countries... In some ways, it's coming full circle.


On a lighter note: I didn't know if I'd like knotting my shirt like it's 1992, but I think I'll do it again.

Thrifting and Muppet legs

Dress: Isaac Mizrahi for Target - thrifted
Tights: Target
Boots: Noble Town Vintage via Etsy
Belt: came with a blazer
Earrings: Target

While y'all are enjoying summer in the States, I'm pulling out my tights and boots. Rainy season is cold season up here in the Costa Rican mountains and I miss summer while I'm living in the land of eternal fall.


I scored this dress at a thrift store down in the city (where it's the land of eternal spring) for about $4. There are these "tiendas americanas" or American stores which sell used clothes and seconds from the States. There are none up where we live; honestly, there's nothing but a corner store up where we live, so when I spotted one while we were buying paint down in the city, I convinced B to go in with me. He doesn't like shopping unless it's thrifting, so it was a good day for both of us.


I love the hot pink lining on this dress because it was just the right amount of pop as far as color is concerned. I decided to play it up by layering my hot pink tights under the dress. My students were in awe. Is that all one piece? Is it like a jumper? How does that dress even work?! It was pretty funny to blow their minds with so much hot pink peeking out.


I have to say that this was the most comfortable I've felt with hot pink legs. Bright tights are one of those things that just freak me out. I like them on other people but I have no idea how to wear them myself. And yet, I felt like I was working them this day.


I love this combo, and I love that I have a new (to me) addition to my wardrobe. I'm envisioning this as a top at some point in the future or paired with a zebra belt and some sandals (when I go on vacation in July, certainly not up here in the rainforest).


I think I might be in love.

Target addict

Dress: Target (gift from my mom)
Cami: ??
Belt: Target
Cardigan: Target
Boots: Nine West
Earrings: Sarchí, Costa Rica

Y'all, I finally found some time to post pictures from two weeks ago. Or was it three weeks ago that I wore this outfit? I can't even remember, all I know is that we have not had sun like that in the mornings for a minute here.


All I know is that I still like this outfit. It's flowy and comfortable and a mix of neutrals (win-win-win, if you're playing along at home) and just happens to be mostly from Target. Sometimes I get dressed and later realize that everything I'm wearing is from the same store.


That sometimes feels like cheating. As a style blogger, shouldn't I be mixing things up? Showing you how I wear Target with J Crew and LOFT and vintage? Except I'm not usually that cool.


Tell me I'm not the only one who feels a little bit like a cheater when this happens. If I am, that's okay, too, though.... I guess.


Oh, and yes, that's just me checking out good old Volcán Poás. Seriously, that view is stunning, even if I do have to force myself to ignore the fact that it's been quite active recently....

Rockstar bling

Dress: Ross
Scarf: Target
Booties: Aldo
Sunnies: Puerto Rico
Bracelets: gifts from my uncles
Earrings: gift (from Guatemala)

My secret: when I don't feel like getting dressed, I reach for a dress. People think you tried, and you didn't at all.



Of course, if you spend any amount of time around these parts (and by these parts, I mean fashion and style blogs in general) that's neither news nor a secret.


I wore my favorite bracelets: this collection of embellished bangles that make me feel like a total rockstar when I wear them. I've had them since I was twelve (that's sixteen years, y'all) and they've always been this cool. My students were totally impressed with them - both the girls and the boys. When the boys are taken with your jewelry, you know it's totally cool.


And now can y'all help me figure out why I'm pointing at Kiku? Weirdest pose ever....

Not my favorite

Shirt: Gap
Dress (worn as skirt): Ann Taylor
Socks: Target
Boots: Nine West
Belt: Target
Earrings: Target

You win some, you lose some. I wanted to like this outfit more; maybe it's the hair that's throwing it off. Either that, or the fit of this shirt.


So, I'm ambivalent. But, it's done, it's worn, and it's on the Internet. Let's not do this again, Frances, okay? Okay.


The end.